The third "Heartless" news, the innkeeper Wu Ge's solemn expression, and the radio announcement about the water stoppage tonight mingled together, forming a subtly strange atmosphere that kept the four carbon-based members of the "Old Task Force" silent for a moment.

Wu Ge raised his hand and touched his golden hair, his expression returning to normal, and said to Jiang Baimian and the others in a slightly complaining and hurried tone:

"Quick, fill the basins and buckets in the bathroom, and those who want to take a shower should do it quickly."

As he spoke, he walked towards the back of the lobby on the first floor, seemingly preparing for the water stoppage.

He acted so normally, as if he was used to such things.

This made Jiang Baimian and the others, who had intended to ask about the recent "Heartless Disease," a little overwhelmed.

They ultimately decided to listen to the boss and store the necessary water, washing away the dirt and fatigue accumulated along the way.

By the time the "Old Task Force" finished all this, the sun was already setting, and it looked like it was about to fall below the horizon.

"We won't do anything serious tonight, let's go out and find something to eat, then come back to sleep, rest well, recharge, and maintain the system." The latter half of Jiang Baimian's sentence was directed at Genava.

Each room here has a separate electricity meter, whether new, old, or cobbled together.

As the others nodded, Shang Jianyao took the lead in walking towards the door.

Then, he was grabbed back by Jiang Baimian.

"Wait a minute." Jiang Baimian said unhappily, "Xiao Bai and I have to put on makeup first, no, do a disguise."

Of course, their makeup wasn't to make themselves look better or more radiant, but to make themselves look ordinary and less conspicuous.

Bai Chen shook her head:

"I don't need to."

She had lived in "First City" and knew that a Grey Waste woman of her origin as a wilderness wanderer was a relatively common type.

Jiang Baimian looked at her and said with a smile:

"You want to be recognized at a glance?"

Bai Chen was silent for a few seconds and nodded.

"I want to too!" Shang Jianyao said, following suit.

Jiang Baimian glanced at him and ignored him.

She knew that if she retorted, Shang Jianyao would definitely respond with the theory that "boys should also protect themselves when they go out," or give a peculiar "reason" from another perspective.

They quickly got these things done and casually found a restaurant in Qing Olive District called Labe Street.

The restaurant's name was very simple, called "Akson," which was an ancient name for a region in the Red River Basin.

It is said that among those who established "First City" in the beginning, those from Akson were the mainstream.

The boss was also the waiter, wearing a linen shirt, and was quite burly with strong arms.

He looked to be about forty years old, with black hair and blue eyes.

"Do you have a menu?" Jiang Baimian looked around and asked.

The boss shook his head:

"This isn't the Red Giants District.

"Today, we only have beetroot soup, black bread, pork sausage, and potatoes."

He only mentioned potatoes, not the specific dishes, because there were several ways to prepare them.

"We'll take them all." Shang Jianyao made his choice with a serious expression.

As Jiang Baimian felt her now-shy pocket, Bai Chen asked about the price: a full meal would almost empty the team's remaining Aulei.

We have to make money seriously tomorrow, uh, first get a sum of funds from the company's intelligence officer... Jiang Baimian sat down and started ordering.

During this process, Long Yuehong asked again, unwilling to give up:

"Don't you have any fresh meat?"

"I can only get a little bit every day, and it's sold out by noon." The restaurant owner explained simply, "This isn't the Red Giants District."

Because the beetroot soup and the like were all made and prepared in advance, and the pork sausage only needed a little processing, only the mashed potatoes took some effort, the "Old Task Force" quickly began their dinner.

At this time, it was not completely dark, and the sun was still hanging on the horizon, scattering its afterglow.

"This beetroot soup feels a bit strange." Long Yuehong picked up a spoon and took a sip of the soup.

This was quite different from the dietary habits inside "Pangu Biology," thick and sweet.

Shang Jianyao didn't echo him, focusing on the sliced pork sausage.

Although none of these could be called delicious, it was quite good for the four carbon-based members of the "Old Task Force," who were tired of canned food, compressed biscuits, and energy bars.

As they feasted, waves of sound came from a distance:

"We want land!"

"We want jobs!"

"We want to live!"

Long Yuehong curiously turned his body and turned his gaze to outside the restaurant.

Before long, a large group of people passed by on the street, some holding wooden signs, some pulling paper, with the words "We want land," "We want jobs," and "We want to live" written in Red River language.

These people were typical Red River people, either blonde, chestnut-haired, blue-eyed, or green-eyed.

Their shirts and coats were old, but they were washed fairly clean, and their faces were more or less pale.

"What are these people doing?" Long Yuehong asked a little blankly.

It seemed like they were demanding something?

Because they were the only customers in the Akson restaurant, the rather burly boss answered his question casually:

"Those people are marching."

"Marching?" Jiang Baimian had only seen this word in books.

First City was indeed different.

"Marching?" Shang Jianyao seemed to think this was a very interesting thing.

The restaurant owner said with slight disdain:

"These are all descendants of the old citizens. They don't work hard themselves, they lost their farmland outside the city, and they don't want to work in the West Suburb. They only think about asking the Senate to start a war or build new settlements in the Wasteland so they can get land or public office."

The layout of First City had a big problem, the factory area was actually located to the west, upstream of the Red River, so that the wastewater flowed through the city.

This also had its practical factors - the areas east and north of First City were heavily polluted with numerous mutated creatures, making it impossible to build factories, while the southeast and south had a large amount of fertile farmland.

At the same time, affected by the destruction of the Old World, the local climate was slightly chaotic, with the wind direction constantly blowing from east to west, and the Golden Apple District and other places in the southeast of the city relied on the water source of the Taiwei River, a tributary of the Red River, so the layout continued like this.

After listening to the restaurant owner's answer, Long Yuehong suddenly understood:

"Lazy and unwilling to work hard..."

At this time, Shang Jianyao asked suspiciously:

"Why would so many people lose their land at the same time because they didn't work hard?"

They said these few words, and the marching team had not yet reached its end.

The restaurant owner was silent for a moment and said:

"With so many citizens, there will always be some who are lazy and don't work hard."

Jiang Baimian gave Shang Jianyao a wink, telling him not to ask any more questions.

To shut this guy's mouth, she forked a few slices of pork sausage into his plate.

Long Yuehong looked around and finally decided to focus on his meal.

The voices of "We want land" and "We want jobs" gradually faded away, as if entering the Red Giants District.

Perhaps because they were all hungry, the "Old Task Force" solved their dinner in a whirlwind in no time.

Looking at the environment, which still had some visibility, Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said:

"Let's take a walk around."

It's the team leader's favorite part of observing the environment and familiarizing herself with the terrain again... Long Yuehong wasn't surprised at all.

"Okay!" Shang Jianyao, who had eaten and drunk his fill, was in high spirits, and Genava imitated his reaction.

Bai Chen didn't say that she was already familiar with this area because she hadn't been here for a long time, and she wasn't sure if anything had changed, so she had to measure it in person before she could feel at ease.

In this way, the "Old Task Force," a group of five, strolled along Labe Street in a posture of digesting after dinner, walking towards the Red Giants District.

In the dim twilight, they saw many people coming and going in a hurry, seeming very busy, but their expressions were quite numb.

From time to time, people with fierce expressions or in groups of twos and threes sized them up, but they shifted their gazes after seeing Genava's "red light" eyes.

Seeing that the Third Avenue, which separated Qing Olive District and the Red Giants District, was in sight, Jiang Baimian and the others heard another commotion.

They looked over and found a figure standing on top of a low building.

His body was quite hunched, and he was vigilantly confronting someone on the other side, who was unknown.

Bang!

After a gunshot, the figure fell backward, fell from the top of the building, and crashed heavily on the ground.

As blood quickly overflowed, Long Yuehong heard someone sigh behind him:

"The fourth one..."

At this time, the sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and a large number of lights lit up in various parts of First City.

The Milky Way was reflected on the other side of the Third Avenue, and stars dotted this side.